The wicked winter weather has not been kind to retailers and restaurants over the past few weeks.  When the weather gets as nasty as it’s been, people are inclined to stay inside and stay cozy.

One industry that’s seen a boom over the past few weeks has been online dating sites.  If you haven’t seen the news, Great Britain was slammed with snow and icy weather last week which has made it difficult for many Brits to get back and forth to work.  For many of those single Brits, their time spent housebound has led to a huge increase in online dating.

According to a BBC article, UK singles are hitting two large British dating sites in record numbers.  Without wanting to plagiarize, I want to quote directly from that article:

“Mysinglefriend.com says visitors to its website soared by 55% on Tuesday alone, with its busiest time coming at 1500 rather than the traditional 2200.

Meanwhile rival site Singles365.com says its visitor numbers grew 27% across Tuesday and Wednesday compared with a year ago.”

Great news for these two sites, with heavy traffic coming in the middle of the afternoon (1500) as opposed to the traditional surge that’s seen late in the evening (2200). The only downside to this surge is of these UK Singles are stuck inside their own homes, so it could be awhile before they get to meet up on that first date with their desired match.

That’s it for today, stay warm,

Mac

Here’s an article from the Washington Post that got me thinking a bit.  I’m not sure if I actually grasp the entire concept, but it just goes to show how accepting the younger public is starting to become about meeting people through non-traditional methods.

Online dating site Skout conducted a survey of their existing members to see how accepting their members would be in meeting up with people they found through their mobile application, which runs as an application off of the iPhone.  They surveyed 1000 members between the ages of 20-30 and the results were quite eye-opening.

51 percent of the consumers surveyed have met another single person in the Real World that they initiated contact with on their iPhone.  Also, almost 70 percent of the respondents indicated that they felt comfortable meeting up with someone they found using their smart phone at some point in the future.

With all the concerns about the safety factors involved in meeting other singles online, these Skout members seem almost cavalier in their approach to meeting other singles.

One point that can’t be ignored from this article is the growing dependence we continue to place on our mobile phone, especially in the under 30 crowd.  It’s used for everything, and many sites are going to need to find a way to cater to this growing segment of the dating community.

Would you be interested in meeting someone you found using a mobile application that alerts you to possible matches in your area , or would you still feel more comfortable relying on the “traditional” method of going online and doing a little more research?

I’m curious to know your thoughts on this one?

Mac

Here’s a dating site that doesn’t mess around. Talk about keeping tabs on your members.

Danish online dating website BeautifulPeople.com told news sources that they recently got rid of 5,000 of their members because they no longer met the sites beauty standards. What changed? The members had posted recent pictures of themselves on the site and apparently it was evident in those photos that the members had “let themselves go.”

These members were told they would be able to reapply for membership to the site, but they need to get themselves back into shape before they would be reconsidered.

Sound bizarre? Read a little further. Apparently, other members of the site were the ones who called for this action. They felt the members who had let themselves go were degrading the value of their membership.

The site, which is active in 16 countries, is unique in that prospective members must go through a 48 hour voting process before they are approved. Their profile is judged by members of the opposite sex, who decide if the prospective member is “beautiful enough” to be accepted to the site.

The website claims it was founded on “one very simple principle of human nature – the fact that people want to be with someone they are attracted to. It may not be politically correct to say so * but it is honest.”

To read the full story, click here.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but this isn’t the kind of site I’m thinking would accept me. Talk about pressure.

Let me know what you think about this one,
Mac

For those of you who think that online dating is a passing fad, I happened to bump into this article that shed some light on the subject.

The article was based more on how people increasingly rely on keeping in touch with friends through social media such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, but it included the little tidbit on online dating. It raised fears as to whether we may be losing touch with some of our social skills by relying on these online tools, but overall it gave a positive endorsement.

When it came to dating, it quoted U.S. Census Bureau which shows that 40 million Americans use online dating services like , Match.com, Lavalife, and Yahoo Personals. That number represents almost 40% of the single people in the United States, so it’s not an avenue you should be ashamed of using.

One last statement that I’ve copied from the article itself:

“According to a recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, by 2005 more than three million Americans who used online dating services in hope of developing a long-term relationship or marriage had been successful. eHarmony claims to be responsible for as many as 2 percent of all annual marriages in the United States. Presumably that does not include the estimated 30 percent of already married people who deceptively use the sites.”

I don’t know about you, but I think those statistics validate the growing importance on dating online.

‘Til next time,
Mac

After taking a break over the holidays, Howard Stern returned to the airwaves on Monday announcing his newest contest, the Tiger Woods Mistress Beauty Pageant. The contest is open to any of the women who have had a proven relationship with Woods that’s been documented in the media.

The pageant will be run in two parts, with the contestants being judged in their bathing suits (preferably two piece) as well as a personality interview. I’m guessing the better their Woods story, the better they’ll be evaluated.

Why would these women enter this contest? Stern is hoping the cash prize of $100,000 will be enough to entice them. A few of them have already accepted much less to share their stories with the print media.

The cash prize is courtesy of online dating site Ashley Madison, who caters specifically to married couple looking for an affair. As their company slogan says, “Life’s short, have an affair.”

As he was announcing the sponsor of this competition, Stern suggested that if Woods had used

Ashley Madison, he might have been able to avoid much of the relationship mess that he has fallen into. By dating married women, Woods may have avoided having his infidelity leak into the public because married women have just as much to lose when having their affairs and tend to keep quiet.

Stern announced that the pageant will only proceed if he is able to get three confirmed mistresses to participate.

Call me crazy, but I could see this thing happening. If so, it’s would be a big event and I think it would end up being real cheap advertising for Ashley Madison.

Let me know what you’re thinking,

Mac

Hey there, it’s Mac.  I just read a great little article that talks about how online dating has become such a valuable resource for what is referred to as isolated singles.

What exactly is an isolated single?  According to this article, these are people who work odd hours (for example shift work) or singles who live in very rural and remote areas.  This demographic makes up a large portion of the entire single community.

Online dating ends up being a valuable tool for these single because they are able to meet other singles on their own schedule.  As you know, initial contact with other singles in done via email.  This is great for the single working through the night because they can work on finding other singles on their own time table, whether it’s 3 am or early in the afternoon.  Once it’s time to arrange a date, they have to worry about adjusting their schedule, but a lot of work is done before getting to that point.

It’s also great for singles that live in rural areas.  Their pot to choose from is pretty limited, and the Internet really widens their scope.  They do have to worry about what sort of distance they could accept traveling to find their match, but at least they have options.

To read the full article, follow this link.  Once your done, come back and leave me a comment to let me know what you think.

Cheers,

Mac